A Familiar Sort of Feeling
by AndSheWrites
Summary: Simon the Fox is an absolute nobody, or so the strange blue fox tells himself. His life code is to keep his head down and ensure that he never means anything to anybody. But when life takes a sharp and unexpected turn, what will he do when he discovers he does mean something to a figure from his dark past - Shadow the Hedgehog?


p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"CHAPTER ONE/p  
p class="MsoNormal"It was a somewhat gloomy early morning sky that hung above him as a fox set hastily through the streets of New Mobotropolis./p  
p class="MsoNormal"He was donned elegantly in a dark grey tuxedo and a black tie over a white undershirt. Additionally clad in pants that matched his suit and shiny black shoes, he stood out starkly from the crowd of the everyday Mobians passing by./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Even more so due to his electric blue fur, which turned far more heads than his outfit ever would have. People murmured amongst themselves in confusion, as they normally associated that color of fur with someone much more well-known than some anxious-looking fox who looked like he had a boring meeting to attend./p  
p class="MsoNormal"The azure fox was well aware of all the disdainful eyes on him as he darted through the typical morning hustle and bustle, trying to keep his head down, but there was no amount of meekness or neutrally-colored clothing that could make himself as invisible as he so desperately wished to be./p  
p class="MsoNormal"The unusual Mobian's name was Simon. He was really perfectly normal, below normal, unspeakably boring and unimportant. These were the thoughts that constantly chased themselves around and around in Simon's brain wherever he went. He knew exactly whom his blue fur reminded everyone of, and it always served to reaffirm everything he already believed. There was no way he could ever do anything great – or em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"be/em anything great, to anyone. There was nothing he could do right. It would just be for the best if Simon stayed out of everyone else's way, or else he'd no doubt make a mess of things./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Thoughts like this were so ever-present in Simon's jittery mind that they had trodden very deep scars into his subconscious, and they always brought to Simon a strange mix of comfort and emptiness, deep in his heart. They were familiar thoughts, cushioning him like pillows always there to catch him if life ever knocked him down. They gave him a firm sense of security. Simon would never have to worry about all the pressure of being a somebody, because he simply could never be anything but a nobody./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Simon swept down another street until he was rushing along a sidewalk by a wide road, which split straight through the middle of the city and branched off to everywhere important. His arm shot into the air and he waved vigorously. Before he knew it, he was sitting uncomfortably on a bus and trying to scrinch himself into the farthest corner of a seat so as to be as far away from everyone else as possible. Simon absolutely dreaded public transportation, for the unspeakable horrors of being packed like so many sardines into a vehicle with a bunch of people he didn't know./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Nervously, Simon's bright blue eyes flitted away from all the unfamiliar faces. He always tried his very best to avoid attracting attention, which was difficult to do when you happened to sport the most recognizable, and perhaps the most uncommon, fur color on Mobius./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Not shortly enough, the painful but necessary experience was over, and he was hurrying away again towards Mobius University like a skittering leaf shoved along before a gust of wind./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Despite Simon's assumptions about himself, he was still the most excellent student at the university. He was fully absorbed in his studies – clueless as to his goal in life, his absolute love of knowledge dedicating him to years of school. It had taken him only a year to pass the entirety of high school and college, mostly because he was an expert at most things already. If it involved reading or mathematics even in the slightest, Simon would excel at it. He was particularly a technological genius, and had single-handedly caused the resignations of everyone else in the robotics club./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Indeed, all other students at the university avoided Simon, due to opinions of him that ranged from indifference to envious animosity. It certainly wasn't like he sought any of them out, though. His primary mission, besides engrossing himself in his studies, was, of course, evading social interaction./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Simon's professors insisted that he didn't even need to attend university. His genius was so incredible and unparalleled, there was no doubt that he could graduate from the school and be granted a doctorate or several at any time he wished. But Simon very nervously had no interest in this. It seemed he intended to be a university student forever – coasting under life's big currents, and never using his genius for anything but study, lest he make a name for himself./p  
p class="MsoNormal"And absolutely never, under any circumstances, think about the past./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Unfortunately, life has a curious habit of doing exactly what you'd rather it not do./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Precisely 1,642.5 days of peaceful university life, of everything going exactly the way Simon had wanted it, ended with a rude and jarring awakening, at 4:22 PM, in the middle of a wonderful Physics pop quiz. Simon was 2 minutes into the quiz and just about to sign his name at the top of his worksheet when a massive explosion shook the whole building./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanSuddenly, Simon was swept up in a whirlwind of panicked, screaming students./p  
p class="MsoNormal"The entire world narrowed into a dark, hazy pinpoint, a black box closing up around Simon too tight./p  
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;""Everyone remain calm!"/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"Their professor was shouting. Or was he whispering? He sounded very far away. Simon hunched over, his eyes as wide as moons. He couldn't breathe – no, he was breathing too much. He was gasping for breath, clinging to the edge of his desk even as his legs gave out from under him./p  
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;""There is no reason to panic!"/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"Simon staggered blindly, petrified with fear as he slowly sank to the floor. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"This is it, /emhis brain screamed. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"They're coming for me. They're here. It's them!/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;""GET DOWN! EVERYONE UNDER THE DESKS!"/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"The ceiling was crumbling./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"Panic-stricken, Simon couldn't process the warning in time, and a split second later, the university came down on top of them./p 


End file.
